Ariana and Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief
by Inspired by My Dreams
Summary: Ariana Jackson was just a normal girl- or so she thought. She soon discovers that one of her parents is a Greek god, which means that she and her brother Percy Jackson are both demigods. They are accused of a false crime, so she embarks on a quest with him and new friends to recover the stolen item and return it. Will she succeed and prove them innocent or will she fail?
1. Chapter One

1. We Accidentally Vaporize Our Pre-Algebra Teacher

Look, I don't want to be a half-blood- I never did. Being a half-blood is dangerous, and plain scary. Most of the time, you find yourself being killed in the most painful and nasty ways. So what am I, exactly? A giant, a vampire, a unicorn, maybe? Hold it right there. I'm not a monster- I'm a normal girl- on the outside. On the inside, I am attracting the most dangerous and ferocious monsters out there. Still don't believe me? Read on.

My name is Ariana Jackson. I'm twelve years old, and I live in a small apartment in New York with my mother, Sally Jackson, and my brother, Percy Jackson. Oh, I _almost_ forgot- I also live with my mean and ugly stepfather, Gabe Ugliano. Let's just say he lives up to his last name.

Until recently, I've been attending Yancy Academy, a special school for people with "problems." Percy and I hate this school, along with every other school our mom had sent us to. We've tried our best to get kicked out of every school, only for our mom to send us to a new one. See, Percy and I are not the brightest. We have dyslexia and are both ADHD. We always thought we were just normal, dumb kids, until that day we discovered everything…

"Get up, Ariana! We're going to that museum in Manhattan today!" someone yelled in my ear. "Percy…" I grunted, punching him in the arm. He rolled his eyes and carried me into the one bathroom four people had to share. "Now get ready, and quickly! I don't want to disappoint Mr. Brunner; I've been doing decently in Latin lately." I widened my eyes in mock surprise. "Ooh.. since when was Percy Jackson interested in impressing a teacher?"

"Just get your lazy butt ready," he said, then left me to get ready. Cool. A field trip. Just take notice that that was super sarcastic. Things have gone wrong on field trips for me and Percy since well- forever. Like, that time when Percy and I visited the Saratoga Battlefield in fifth grade. We weren't exactly aiming the cannon at the bus, but we got expelled anyway. And, when we visited this behind-the-scenes shark pool at marine world, we touched some levers we weren't supposed to touch. Let's just say our class took an unplanned swim. You get the idea now, don't you?

*Time Skip*

I was beginning to wonder whether this field trip was going to be safe. Twenty eight mental case kids and two teachers on a yellow bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to learn about Ancient Greeks and Roman stuff. Not exactly a dream vacation. What a snooze. Then again, most Yancy field trips were like this, so it's not like I was totally surprised.

At least Mr. Brunner, the Latin teacher was coming along. He was everyone's favorite teacher, including me and Percy. He is always sitting in a wheelchair, and has thinning hair and a scruffy beard, and always has the smell of coffee about him. Doesn't sound too exciting? Mr. Brunner tells stories and jokes and lets us students play games during class. I always looked forward to Latin, and best of all, I'm a natural at it, so I don't need to put much effort into any of my work- at least in Latin.

Anyway, the students and teachers boarded the bus, and I was stuck sitting next to Nancy Bobofit, the world's biggest retard, with Percy and Grover Underwood, mine and Percy's best friend behind us. Nancy likes making mine, Percy's, and Grover's lives miserable, especially Grover. We've defended Grover in his times of need, which is why Percy and I are both on probation. Hey, who wouldn't deliver a karate chop and a punch to her stomach when she called Grover a stupid, two-legged, uncivilized animal? Well, not me and Percy, apparently.

Nancy smirked at Percy and Grover as a teacher forced me into the seat next to her, knowing Percy and I were on probation and wouldn't dare do anything to her. She unwrapped her sandwich and peeled off a bit of bread slathered in peanut butter. She flicked the piece at Grover, which landed in his curly brown hair. Grover looked agitated, but he calmly removed the bit from his hair and threw it on the ground. Throughout the course of the entire trip, she kept throwing peanut butter bits in his hair, and eventually, Grover grew tired of picking the pieces out of his hair.

By the time we arrived at the museum, his hair was covered with peanut butter and bread bits. Percy and I were steaming. We were thinking about throttling Nancy at least ten times during the trip. I was able to calm down as our class left the bus.

Mr. Brunner led the tour of the museum. We went through rooms of weird old statues and really old black and orange pottery. It blew my mind that this stuff could even last this long. We were looking at this grave marker thing called a _stele_ when everyone began to chatter. It was really annoying, and every time Percy and I told everyone to stop talking, our math teacher, Mrs. Dodds, gave us the evil eye.

Basically, Mrs. Dodds is this little old woman that teaches math class. She's always in a leather jacket, even though she's like, fifty years old. Since the first day, she's treated Nancy Bobofit like a prize student and me and Percy like we were frog spawn. Not very pleasant, not at ALL. I was brought back to Earth by Nancy, who had snickered about the naked guy on the _stele._ "Won't you please shut up?" Percy and I said in unison. Oops, not the time for a twin moment; the fact that we said it a little too loud than intended made it bad enough.

The whole class laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story. "Did you two have comments, Mr. and Miss Jackson?" he asked. Percy and I shook our heads quickly. Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the _stele_. "Can you tell us what this represents?" Mr. Brunner asked. "It's Kronos eating his kids," Percy said. Simpleton. "Kronos is eating his kids, which are the gods," I elaborated. "He ate every one of them except one, Zeus, who was hidden from him by his wife, Rhea. Rhea gave Kronos a rock instead of Zeus. Later, Zeus was able to trick Kronos into barfing back up his brothers and sisters-" A couple of girls squealed. "- and then there was a war. And the gods won," I finished.

"Very good, Ariana and Percy. Now, children, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, please lead the class outside." Percy and I walked outside and sat down to eat. We were soon joined by Grover. The three of us sat on the edge of the fountains, away from the others- as usual. Just then, Nancy showed up in front of us and dumped her half-eaten lunch into Grover's lap. "Oops," she said nonchalantly. I tried my best to keep my cool, and I could see Percy felt the exact same way.

Suddenly, we lost control and, although we don't remember pushing her, Nancy Bobofit fell backwards into the fountain. Whoopsies. Nancy sat in the fountain, looking like an idiot, then pointed an accusing finger at me and Percy. "Percy and Ariana pushed me!" she screamed. Mrs. Dodds was over in like two seconds. Uh oh. I knew we were in trouble- again.

"Come, Jackson twins," she said, saying the word Jackson like it was a curse. Great. She led us through the museum and eventually, we saw the gift shop. _Great, she's going to make me and Percy buy a shirt for Nancy at the gift shop, _I thought. Apparently, that wasn't her plan, because she kept walking. She stopped suddenly. We were back in the Greek and Roman section. She stared at us with her beady eyes.

"You've been giving us lots of trouble, sweeties," she said. "Yes ma'am," Percy and I said in unison, just to be safe. She fiddled with the cuffs of her leather jacket. "Did you really think that you two would get away with it?" I was confused, but Percy and I answered, "We'll try harder, ma'am." Thunder shook the building. "Confess," she snarled. "Confess and there will be less pain." Did she find out about our stash of candy in his dorm room? We knew we would get caught sooner or later.

"Well?" she demanded. "We don't-" we started. "Your time is up," she hissed. And the transformation began. Her eyes turned red and began to glow. Her fingers stretched into talons. Her leather jacket turned into huge leathery wings. Now she was an old flying bat lady. To tell you the truth, I wasn't too terrified- I had gotten used to her. Mrs. Dodds is just that ugly.

Then another strange thing happened. Mr. Brunner appeared in the doorway. He tossed a ballpoint pen to Percy and a large white stone to me. Um, okay? But right when the pen landed in Percy's hand, it transformed into a bronze sword. The same thing happened to me as I caught the pearl, only my blade was gold. I looked at the inscription on the hilt. 'The Golden Riptide,' it read. Weird name. Mrs. Dodds bared her fangs at the two of us.

"Die, sweeties!" she shrieked and flew straight at us. Percy and I swung our swords randomly, mine hitting her stomach and Percy's hitting her shoulder. Mrs. Dodds exploded in yellow powder. And then we were just standing there like idiots, with our swords in our hands. Then, the two swords became a ballpoint pen and a pearl once more.

We walked out of the museum to see our class still outside. Nancy smirked. "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butts," she said with a smug smile. "Who?" I asked. "Our teacher. DUH!" Nancy said, then stalked off. Percy and I asked Grover where Mrs. Dodds was. "Who?" he asked. I saw Mr. Brunner sitting on the grass, reading a book. We approached him. "Where's Mrs. Dodds?" we asked. Mr. Brunner looked troubled. "The other chaperone on this trip," I reminded him. "Why, Percy, Ariana, there was never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Ever. Are you two feeling all right?"


	2. Chapter Two

2. Three Old Ladies Knit the Socks of Death

I was used to the occasional strange experience, but this was just too much for me to register, and I could tell Percy felt the same way. After all, we were the only two people that saw our pre-algebra teacher Mrs. Dodds turn into a giant flying bat lady. For the entire school year, Percy and I have been talking about how the campus seemed to play tricks on us. All the students acted that Mrs. Kerr, this random woman that Percy and I have never seen before has been our pre-algebra teacher since Christmas, which was when our last math teacher quit. Strange things happen in my life, but nothing has been even close to being as strange as this.

Every so often, Percy and I would bring up Mrs. Dodds, but the students just stared at us like we had just sprouted two extra heads. This went on so much that we both almost believed that Mrs. Dodds had never existed- if it wasn't for Grover. Every time Percy and I mentioned Mrs. Dodds, he would stutter for a second, and then say she didn't exist. But he couldn't fool us. We knew for sure that he was lying and Mrs. Dodds had really existed. Something was going on. It _had_ really happened at the museum, hadn't it? Then why was Grover lying? Something weird was going on here.

I didn't know if Percy felt the same way as I did, for once. I would lie for hours in bed, thinking about Mrs. Dodds with her huge leathery wings and sharp talons. The stormy weather continued. If it wasn't a vision of Mrs. Dodds a that woke me up, it was the storm. I was feeling cranky and miserable all the time, and I knew for a fact Percy felt that way too. Our grades dropped from Ds to Fs. When our English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked us what the problem was, we cracked. We yelled in his face to shut his pie hole.

The next week, our mom received a letter. We were not invited back to Yancy Academy next year, which is just fine by me and Percy, just saying. One thing was for sure- I wanted to stay with my mom. I could put up with the crummy public school down the block and live with Gabe and his poker parties for the rest of my life if I didn't ever have to see a school like Yancy Academy ever again. Period. Of course, I'll miss Grover, my best friend, and Mr. Brunner the Latin teacher, who had to be the best teacher in the world. _All that is gone now, but I can start a new life, one away from Yancy Academy,_ I chided myself.

The evening before the finals, I sat in Percy's dorm room studying. Suddenly- CRASH! Percy had thrown his copy of_ Cambridge Guide to Greek Mythology _across the room with a frustrated shout. His dyslexia and ADHD must have kicked in, and I knew it would be a matter of time when I freaked out as well. Percy stopped hyperventilating and slowly got up and retrieved his book. "I'm going to ask Mr. Brunner for help," Percy said. "I'll come too," I said and followed him out the door. We walked downstairs to the faculty offices. Most of them were dark, but Mr. Brunner's had light with his door slightly ajar. Percy and I were three steps away from the door handle when we heard voices.

A familiar voice said, "….worried about Percy and Ariana, sir." It was definitely Grover. What were they saying? We decided to eavesdrop. "….alone this summer," Grover continued. "I mean, a Kindly One in this school! Now we know for sure, and _they know as well!_" Grover exclaimed. What the heck was a Kindly One?! "We would only make it worse by rushing them," came Mr. Brunner's voice. "The two need time to mature." "But they don't have time! The solstice deadline-" Grover was cut off. "Will have to be resolved without them, my boy. Let them enjoy their ignorance while they can." "Sir, they saw _her._" Grover insisted. Who, Mrs. Dodds? What did she have to do with this?

"Their imagination," Mr. Brunner said firmly. "The Mist that currently is over the staff and students will change their minds." Grover's next comment came out choked. "Sir… I can't ever fail my duties again. If I do… well, you know what will happen, don't you?" "Grover, you haven't failed. I believe in you," Mr. Brunner said kindly. "Now let's focus on keeping Percy and Ariana alive until next fall." The statement shocked us. We dropped the books we hadn't put down when we left Percy's dorm on the floor with a loud thud. The room went silent. Uh oh.

Percy and I raced back to his dorm, hearing a slow clopping sound like a horse's, then everything was silent. As we opened the door to Percy's door, we found Grover conked out on his bed reading his Latin textbook like he had been there the whole time. "Hi Grover," I said casually. "Um… hi." Percy frowned. "Grover, you look terrible, man. Are you okay?" "Y-y-yeah, I'm fine," he said scratching the back of his neck. "Look, I'm tired, you two. Can you take your study session somewhere else?" Percy frowned. He had never blown us off before. But one thing was clear. Grover was hiding something and he thought Percy and I were in danger.

*Time Skip*

The next day, I left Latin class with Percy and Grover following me. Percy looked horrible- his eyes were red and swimming with tears. He must've gotten zero sleep last night, and on top of that, his dyslexia probably had his brain swimming with random Latin words now. I was relieved that my dyslexia case wasn't as bad as his. We were about to step out the door when- "Percy, Ariana, I need to talk to you for a second," Mr. Brunner called. Percy and I walked to Mr. Brunner's desk while Grover murmured something about waiting outside and slipped out the door. There is something weird about that kid these days. He was much more paranoid and flinched at the tiniest of sounds.

"Percy, Ariana, don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It will be for the best. See, you two aren't normal-" We cut him off. "Thanks for reminding us," said Percy. "We'll always keep that in mind," I finished as we raced out of the classroom, feeling hurt and rejected. Our favorite teacher had just called us abnormal kids."Ariana, Percy!" Mr. Brunner called. But we had already slammed the door to Percy's dorm.

*Time Skip*

Percy's P.O.V.

It was the last day of term. Ariana and I were leaving for good. I shoved my clothes into my suitcase and slammed the lid shut. I was ready to get out of this horrid place- forever. The other guys were talking about what they were doing for the summer. They were mental case kids like me, but RICH mental case kids. I mean, people were going to Australia and the Caribbean for Pete's sake. And then there's me. I'm poor and from a family of nobodies. They were seriously annoying, but there was one person I dreaded saying good-bye to- Grover.

*Time Skip*

Turns out Grover had booked the same bus home as me. Yipee. Another awkward conversation with Grover the curly-haired dude. It's not like I don't enjoy his company, but things have just been tense between us lately, since the Mrs. Dodds incident. Grover, Ariana and I boarded our bus. Grover's eyes were bloodshot and he kept looking around as if looking for someone. "Looking for Kindly Ones?" Ariana asked slyly. Grover jumped. "Um, no," he said nervously as he took in his surroundings once again. He then turned to me and Ariana. "How much did you hear?" he whispered nervously. "Um… not everything. Something about the summer solstice, though," I said.

Grover looked pained. "Look, you two. I was just worried about you guys hallucinating about demon math teachers, okay?" he said. Ariana and I were unconvinced. "Hey, what's this?" Ariana asked, pointing to something sticking out of his pocket. He pulled it out. "Oh, this? Here, you can have it," he said, handing it to Ariana. It appeared to be a business card. Ariana held the grubby card gingerly between her fingers, obviously slightly disgusted at the bad condition of the card. I leaned in to read it:

Grover Underwood

Keeper

Half Blood Hill

Long Island, New York

(800)-009-0009

Man, even Grover had somewhere to go for summer break. "Where is it? You know, Half-"Ariana started. Grover had clapped a hand around her mouth. "Don't say it!" he shouted. "It's um.. my new summer address. Paranoid, much? I'm just saying. He must be as rich as the other kids at Yancy- he had a dang summer home! "So… can we visit you in your mansion?" I asked in a glum tone. Grover nodded. "Or… if you need me. See, I kind of have to protect you two…" Okay. That's it. That made no sense. Just saying, Ariana and I have protected Grover from bullies since Day One. Has ever protected us during the entire school year? No.

"Grover… what are you even protecting us from?" Ariana asked. Grover never answered. A loud grounding noise had drowned out his words, and he didn't intend to say them again. After a few minutes, the driver told us that we had to get off. Great, just GREAT. We were on a stretch of country road, and it was STEAMING. Heck, it was June. Don't say anything! On our side of the highway, there was nothing but a few trees and some litter. On the other side, however, there was this old-fashioned fruit stand. The stuff on sale looked really good, though. There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in some rocking chairs. Here was the strangest thing- they were knitting these humongous socks- each one was the size of a sweater!

Each woman looked incredibly old, with silvery hair tied back from wrinkled and pale faces. The weird thing was, their beady little eyes were traveling back and forth from me to Ariana, then back to be again. "Grover? Why are they-" I started. Grover interrupted me with a frightened squeak. "Please tell me those ladies aren't looking at you and Ariana!" he cried. "They are. Strange, right? Don't you think those socks would fit us just right?" I joked. Grover shook his head rapidly. "This is not the time for jokes! Get Ariana! We need to get on the bus!" he shouted. "Whoa, dude, calm down," I said. Grover wasn't listening- he was too busy hyperventilating.

I looked at where he was pointing a shaking finger. The middle lady had taken out a pair of long scissors. An old lady with scissors. The most terrifying thing. Right, Grover. "Come on!" Grover yelled tugging me to the bus. Ariana and the other passengers arrived soon after. The bus engine roared to life. Everyone cheered. The weirdest thing? The old ladies had just snipped a piece of yarn, and I felt scared for a moment before realizing that the ladies had just ended someone's life with that snip. That cord- it's what tied someone to their life, I realized. That's why Grover was so terrified. The Fates, I thought as the bus sped away. Ariana gave me a weird look. "Um, Percy, you okay?" she asked. "Yeah, I'm fine, just fine," I said. But I wasn't fine. One snip from that old lady's scissors could end mine and Ariana's lives.


End file.
